New FCC Mayor probes delay in construction at F/town food market
On Tuesday 23 January 2024, the dreaded yellow monster stealthily arrived at the iconic Francistown Food Market under strict instruction to demolish the structures and forcibly evict vendors from the site.
The contractor, Amasa Civila (Pty) Ltd wanted the tenants gone to give way to construction.
Tenants were given 30 minutes to pack their things, and then the ruthless yellow machine got to work, flattening in minutes what for years had been popular eat-out spots for second-city residents.
For some, the sight of their livelihoods being reduced to rubble proved too much to bear, their fears turning to tears amid the dust.
The demolition came after the Francistown High Court ruled in council’s favour, granting an eviction order which Deputy Sheriff, Letamo Vae was engaged to execute.
Exactly a year later, the site remains in ruins; not a single brick has been laid since that fateful day.
“This is not acceptable,” said the city’s newly elected Mayor, Gaone Majere in an exclusive interview with The Voice on Tuesday (Jan 21, 2025).
While he’s yet to meet with the Food Market Contractor, Majere admitted it is one of the burning issues he needs to address.
“We definitely have to meet, and find out why their contract can’t be terminated because clearly there’s nothing happening here!” he charged.
Mayor Majere said although he was in the opposition ranks when this decision was taken, he remembers the contractor was supposed to make a provision for the evicted vendors.
“We were under the impression that the vendors were a hindrance to the contractor, but 12 months later the place is still in rubble, and our people have nowhere to trade,” he said, adding he intends to meet with the informal sector in Francistown and together formulate what could work for them in the city.
“We’ve the Informal Sector Strategy which we bench-marked in Zimbabwe. We have to see what can and can’t work for our people, and this can only happen through consultation,” he said.
In an interview with The Voice at time of the demolition, Francistown West Member of Parliament, Ignatius Moswaane, who’s now the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, advised Council to negotiate with the Ministry of Agriculture and allow vendors to set up shop at the Horticultural Market.
Located behind the Fire Station, the market has become something of a white elephant since it was built in 2004.
